Sir Edward Charles Stirling, BA (1870), MA (1873), MB (1874), MD (1880), ScD (1910) was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and lecturer in physiology and surgery at St George’s Hospital for Children in the United Kingdom. Returning to Adelaide in 1875, Stirling married Jane (nee Gilbert). He was consulting surgeon at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Professor of Physiology at the University of Adelaide and member of council. From 1884 to 1887 Stirling was a member for North Adelaide in the House of Assembly.

Stirling had a long association with the South Australian Museum dating from 1881. He was appointed Honorary Director between 1889 to 1895 and then again between 1913 and 1914; appointed Director between 1895 and 1913; and appointed Curator of Ethnology between 1914 and 1919. During this time he crossed the continent from Darwin to Adelaide with the Earl of Kintore in 1891. In 1893, Stirling travelled to Lake Callabonna to excavate a diprotodon. In 1894, Stirling was a medical officer on the Horn expedition and published the anthropological section of the expedition’s discoveries. He was also responsible for the excellent collection of Australian Aboriginal artefacts.

The South Australian Museum Archives contains correspondence, photographs, and journals. Parts of the collection have not yet been processed.

Cultural Sensitivity

It is a condition of use of the cultural components of the South Australian Museum
Archives that users ensure that any disclosure of information contained in this
collection is consistent with the views and sensitivities of Indigenous people.
Users are warned that there may be words and descriptions that may be culturally
sensitive and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts.

Users should also be aware that some records document research into people and cultures
using a scientific research model dating from the first half of the twentieth century,
and depicts people as research subjects in ways which may today be considered offensive.
Some records contain terms and annotations that reflect the author's attitude or
that of the period in which the item was written, and may be considered inappropriate
today in some circumstances.

Users should be aware that in some Indigenous communities, hearing names of deceased
persons might cause sadness or distress, particularly to the relatives of these
people. Furthermore, certain totemic symbols may also have prohibitions relating
to the age, initiation and ceremonial status or clan of the person who may see them.
Records included may be subject to access conditions imposed by Indigenous communities
and/or depositors. Users are advised that access to some materials may be subject
to these terms and conditions that the Museum is required to maintain.